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GRFHealth and Biosecurity GovernanceIn development
Mandate, publisher and status

Mandate, publisher and status

Health and Biosecurity Governance is a specialist platform of The Global Risks Forum (GRF), in development at its canonical address. Its subject is the governance of health security: the institutions, laws and cooperation arrangements through which countries and communities prevent, prepare for and respond to health threats, including biological risks. This page sets out who publishes it, its mandate, the professional status of those who take part and the limits on its role.

Make an enquiry Back to Health and Biosecurity Governance
In this dossier7 parts
  1. 01In briefThe short answer
  2. 02MandateGovernance of health security across borders
  3. 03RemitHealth security as a whole-of-government task
  4. 04PublisherWho is responsible
  5. 05LimitsWhat the platform does not do
  6. 06ConnectionsWhere the platform sits
  7. 07Key termsTerms used on this page

GRF · In development · service level R0

STEM methods
3
Canonical methods this field applies
Topics
8
Subject pages in the field
Counterparts
3
Platforms in shared fields at GCRI, GRF and GRA
Report series
1
Nexus Reports series it contributes to
01In brief

The short answer.

Health and Biosecurity Governance is a specialist platform of The Global Risks Forum for health and biosecurity. Its mandate covers health security, pandemic cooperation, One Health and biosafety institutions across borders. GRF publishes it, answers for its content and takes no decision on anyone's behalf. It is in development at service level R0, and activities open as each is ready.

02Canvas

Mandate to authority.

Canvas · mandate to authorityDesign, not a record
How Health and Biosecurity Governance is governedA mandate sets the platform's scope; an editor and reviewers govern what it publishes; programmes and the community supply the work; the integrity route handles corrections; authority over decisions stays outside. Design of the governance, not a record.

Fig.How the platform is governed, from its mandate to the authorities who decide. Design, not a record.

03Geography

People and hazards in Southern Africa.

For mandate, publisher and status, in GRF's situational-awareness reading, the map opens on population density, flood water and night lights, framed on Southern Africa; 3 further NASA layers wait in the list.

The interactive map needs JavaScript; the layer list and sources are below.

Layers 3

People and hazards, for this page

Latest available

NASA GIBS / EOSDIS · ASTER GDEM (METI, NASA) · Blue Marble (NASA) · © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) · Natural Earth

Loading the latest NASA imagery.

Drag to move. Ctrl or ⌘ and scroll, pinch or the buttons to zoom; hover for the values under the pointer; reset returns to the region.

For mandate, publisher and status, in GRF's situational-awareness reading, the map opens on population density, flood water and night lights, framed on Southern Africa; 3 further NASA layers wait in the list.Satellite and model products as NASA publishes them, each with its own date; indicators, not assessments of any place; claim ceiling INTEGRATED.

Data: NASA GIBS · ASTER GDEM · Blue Marble · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Natural Earth · GDACS · NASA EONETSources and licences

  • We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA's Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA's Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN), Columbia University. 2018. Gridded Population of the World, Version 4 (GPWv4): Population Density, Revision 11. NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC). Licensed under CC BY 4.0. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). CC BY 4.0
  • VIIRS near-real-time products (flood, land surface temperature, snow cover, corrected reflectance), NASA LANCE; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • VIIRS Black Marble night-time lights, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center; distributed by the NASA Level-1 and Atmosphere Archive and Distribution System (LAADS DAAC); imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • NASA Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS), VIIRS 375 m active fire product, NASA LANCE; vector tiles via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • MODIS and VIIRS atmosphere products, NASA LANCE and LAADS DAAC; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • ASTER GDEM is a product of METI and NASA (ASTER Global Digital Elevation Model V003, NASA LP DAAC); imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • Made with Natural Earth. Free vector and raster map data @ naturalearthdata.com. Public domain
  • © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), via NASA GIBS (coastlines, boundaries, roads and place names). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). ODbL
  • Blue Marble, NASA Earth Observatory; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
  • Context on the globe and flat map: coastlines, boundaries, roads and place names from NASA GIBS reference layers (OpenStreetMap data, ODbL, © OpenStreetMap contributors); Blue Marble imagery as an optional base; 3D terrain and the elevation read-out from the ASTER GDEM elevation colour index (5 m to 200 m classes, exaggerated for legibility). Boundaries are drawn as published and imply no position on any territory.
  • Globe: MapLibre GL JS 6.9.1, BSD-3-Clause, © MapLibre contributors.
  • Live: GDACS (EC JRC / UN OCHA) Events are indicative, not official warnings.
  • Live: NASA EONET Events are indicative, not official warnings.
  • Optional layers (5 sources in the layer list: live, forecast, observed and context) print their provider credit on the map and here when switched on; forecasts are model output and derived indices are estimates.

Layers and dates

  • Population density, 2020: Population: CIESIN, Columbia University, Gridded Population of the World v4.11 (2018), NASA SEDAC, CC BY 4.0 · static
  • Flood water, 3-day composite: VIIRS Global Flood Product, NASA LANCE · 14 Oct 2026
  • Night-time lights, daily: VIIRS Black Marble (VNP46A2), NASA LAADS DAAC · 12 Oct 2026
  • Active fires and thermal anomalies, last day: VIIRS NOAA-20 375 m (FIRMS), NASA LANCE FIRMS · 13 Oct 2026
  • Land surface temperature, day, 8-day composite: VIIRS NOAA-20 Level 3, 8-day, NASA LANCE · 14 Sep 2026
  • Aerosol optical depth, daily: VIIRS NOAA-20 Deep Blue AOD, NASA LANCE · 13 Oct 2026

04Mandate

Governance of health security across borders.

The platform's thesis is health security, pandemic cooperation, One Health and biosafety institutions across borders.

Compare

Institutions and arrangements

Comparison of how health security institutions are organized, mandated and held accountable.

Analyse

Ethics and law

Ethical and legal analysis of preparedness, response, data sharing and biological risk oversight.

Convene

Preparedness coordination

Dialogues that help institutions coordinate before a crisis, recorded and published.

05Remit

Health security as a whole-of-government task.

Health and Biosecurity Governance is a proposed specialist community, in development, for the institutions that implement the International Health Regulations and prepare for the Pandemic Agreement: health ministries, National IHR Authorities, border, agriculture and veterinary agencies, and regional health bodies. It addresses capacity, coordination and oversight only, and publishes no technical detail on biological agents.

06Publisher

Who is responsible.

GRF publishes the platform and answers for what appears on it. GRF is a Swiss association with a public-good, not-for-profit purpose, and one of the three pillar institutions of Nexus Consortiums, with The Global Centre for Risk and Innovation (GCRI) and The Global Risks Alliance (GRA).

The platform exists separately because health governance professionals form an audience distinct from clinical and bioengineering research, which sits with GCRI. Health and Biosecurity Governance is in development. Its pages set out its scope and how it is designed to work, and its dialogues, records and outputs are published here as each one opens. The current service level is R0: information and enquiries. Contributors take part in their professional capacity and do not represent GRF.

07Limits

What the platform does not do.

  • It does not issue public health guidance, declare emergencies or speak for any national or international health authority.
  • It does not regulate, license, inspect or certify laboratories, products, facilities or professionals.
  • It does not finance, procure or allocate vaccines, medicines or other countermeasures.
  • It does not publish information that could enable misuse of biological agents.
  • Hosting or sponsorship confers no authority over findings, and a dialogue record is not a decision of any authority.

Health decisions remain with the competent national and international authorities; see decision-rights context.

08Connections

Where the platform sits.

The platform belongs to the health and biosecurity field. Its science counterparts are Health Nexus and Biotechnology and Biosecurity at GCRI, and its finance counterpart is Insurance Nexus at GRA. Read discipline and institutional issues for the field.

09Key terms

Terms used on this page.

Each term as this page uses it. Where a standard-setting body defines the term, the wording follows that body.

TermDefinition
Service level R0The current service level of Nexus pages: information and enquiries only. An enquiry receives a reference and a named next step; it creates no membership, contract, assignment or commitment.
Conflict of interestA situation in which financial, professional or personal interests could compromise, or appear to compromise, judgement in research or review.
International Health RegulationsA binding WHO instrument that sets obligations on states to detect, assess, notify and respond to public health risks that may spread internationally.
Pandemic emergencyThe highest alert level under the amended IHR, for a public health emergency of international concern with wide spread and severe effects.
10Sources

Where this page's references lead.

The bodies and documents this page is read against. Status and editions change; each link goes to the issuing body.

11Questions

Questions and answers.

Is the platform a separate organization?
No. It is a specialist platform of The Global Risks Forum (GRF), which publishes it.
Does taking part make me a representative of GRF?
No. Participation is in a professional capacity and confers no appointment or authority. Roles exist only where a programme record establishes them.
Who can I contact?
Write to contact@globalriskforum.com or see contact the specialist team. Privacy questions go to privacy@globalriskforum.com.
What is the platform's current status?
Health and Biosecurity Governance is in development. Its pages set out its scope and how it is designed to work, and its dialogues, records and outputs are published here as each one opens. The current service level is R0: information and enquiries.
Related

Around Health and Biosecurity Governance.

Health and Biosecurity Governance

Bring your expertise to this field.

The current service level is R0: information and enquiries. An enquiry receives a reference and names the next step; applications, payments, compute allocations and registrations open only when their team, terms and review capacity exist.

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